Reviews of Ligea "La Sirena"
by Carthusia

Initially, this reminds me so much of Mitsouko. Could be wearable by men or women...the drydown morphs it into a powdery vanilla base ~ softer and sweeter than Mitsouko, and more like Shalimar! Very subtle in the beginning, then it swells with intensity to a sweet vanillic opoponax. Ligea is a shape-shifter, and like SirSlarty said, can create a darkened mood. Funny, because Mitsouko does that on me too! I find this fragrance highly intriguing. The way it ends up on my skin is like a much more wearable, vanilla version of Montales' Sweet Oriental Dream.

I just found this uni-sexual fragrance yesterday at Nordstroms. I was not in the market to buy any more colognes, but then the Carthusia bottles were sitting on their own shelf and I had to try them.

The bottle first got me. It is square with with a family crescent on the face and an old ornate font.

Then the smell...I instantly related to it. It reminded me somehow of Guerlain. It smelled 100 years old, with a scent of fine powder. Citrus, bergamot...it is both Mediterranean and aristocratic. Not sensual, or seductive, but subtle and elegant.

It is made in Capri, and it has a very Italian reserve and cleanliness to it, like a man who is just freshly shaved an puts on a well tailored white cotton shirt with perfectly pressed linen trousers. Or a woman of a certain age who has her hair tied back in a bun, and wears the finest cashmere cardigan and drinks limoncello on the veranda of the house overlooking the water.

It is an old European creation, even if it is relatively new. It bestows a quiet refinement and intelligence on the wearer that doesn't shout but is reassuring and wonderfully familiar.

My label-reading eyes can't convince my scent-sniffing nose that this isn't a product of Guerlain. A skin scent of the same mood (but not identical to) the foundations of Terracotta Voile d'Ete or Jicky or Mitsouko (as a former reviewer so aptly pointed out). I actually prefer this to Mitsouko, which is a little too powerful for my delicate senses. As much as I admire Ligea's serenity, it lacks that one special something, that hook that would catch and hold my attention.

I adore Carthusia Ligea. It's been a long time since I've applied a fragrance three times a day because I miss its presence the minute it wears off. Carthusia only identifies notes of opopanox and mandarin. The scent is old-fashioned -- rather soapy/powdery/dusty, usually qualities I avoid. ÝIt opens with a citrusy Bergamot note. ÝThe first whiff is a formal, unapologetically grown-up perfume. ÝI feel an odd instant nostalgia for childhood -- when being grown-up seemed unattainable and glamorous, a fantasyland of red lipstick, cognac, high heels, complicated undergarments, and other forbidden accoutrements of adulthood.
Ý
The drydown is completely different: a soft, subtle, sweet-but-not-too-sweet scent of skin. ÝMuch of this may be the opopanox. Going by my own nose I smell a hint of vanilla, a very light touch of amber, plus something spicier (very faint) that may be cinnamon, or may be another woody note (sandalwood, or perhaps the opopanox). Ý